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Noxious Weeds - or Are They? by Nicole H. Brauner

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Puncturevine (Tribulus terrestris) is surely not a groundcover by choice!

Needless to say, I had my work cut out for me.  During the next couple of days, I read up on every possible plant I recognized from their online “mugshot” and marked them on our property.  Some of them were poisonous to livestock (and humans), so I focused on those first.  The plants that had not gone to seed yet I pulled from the ground (with gloves on) and laid them to dry on the burn pile.  The weeds that did go to seed I tried to remove as carefully as possible.  Various websites suggested placing a container or a plastic bag over the plant before removing them, so the seeds don’t spread.

But what was I going to do about the milkweed?  Several new plants had sprung up, both in the pasture and in my flowerbeds.  And although not considered dangerous to our health (or to the cows or chickens) unless it was eaten in large quantities and without proper preparation, it was still considered a noxious weed.  The Asclepias syriaca, or common milkweed, is invasive (hence the fact that shortly after I pulled each and every plant in sight, there were new plants growing everywhere), it absorbs nutrients and water more quickly than many a crop, and with each seedpod containing about 500 seeds each, I rested in the knowledge that the milkweed and I were going to be long-term friends - or foes, depending on how you look at it.  

Decisions, decisions!  Milkweed is a must for the Monarch butterfly, as the larvae will feed off the plant.  I definitely wanted to create a safe haven for all critters, flying or not.  So after some good and hard thinking, I decided to remove all milkweed plants from the pasture area but leave them in my butterfly garden.  It has been a privilege to see a few Monarch butterflies, whose life depend on the availability of these plants, visit my garden.

As for the rest of the weeds, several times a week now, I walk the property and look out for new outbreaks of the various noxious weeds that I identified earlier this summer.  Once familiar with the leaves and the way the plant grows, it becomes easier to spot them right away and remove them before they can go to seed, or do any mayor damage.  If you are new to the area where you are homesteading, or find an unusual plant or flower on your property, contact your county weed superintendent, or county extension office.  There are also online resources to help you identify the “intruder”, and the URL mentioned above is a great start.  You may also want to check with your local authorities and see if they provide additional, area-specific information, or workshops on the topic.  They are also great for identifying any weed you may find on your property that cannot be recognized with the current listings.

Although now less colorful, I know that our pasture is healthier for our soon-to-be-purchased livestock, and with the help of a local nursery and several online resources, I was able to make up for my terrible milkweed mishap with a thriving butterfly and hummingbird garden.  The milkweed stalks that I so brutally removed earlier this spring have grown back and are sporting huge clusters of flowers.  Unfortunately, they are also developing equally huge seed pods.  Tomorrow morning I will, sharp knife in hand, pay a visit to my friend the milkweed, and remove these green tear-shaped pods from its stalk.  There is no doubt in my mind that I will miss one or two on our acreage somewhere.  At 500 seeds a pod, it will mean that next year I will be busy chasing down every growing weed in our pasture again, but hopefully with a butterfly or two happily flying along.

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